WOMEN

On their debut self-titled album, Women embraced sonic brashness that deeper examination revealed to be tinted with sly pop melody. With "Public Strain" the band honed a sound truthful to that reverb drenched noise while allowing the pop sensibilities to surface into clearer focus.In fall of 2009, Patrick Flegel (vocals/guitar), Matt Flegel (bass/vocals), Chris Reimer (guitar/vocals), and Michael Wallace (drums) went into the studio with an abundance of ideas, working around conflicting schedules and graveyard shifts. With Chad VanGaalen again on production duties, the band laboriously crafted a timeless sounding recording over the dead of winter in Alberta, Canada. The result exploits their usage of harsh, grating dissonance in smaller and controlled doses, using noise as the foundation for richly structured, layered songwriting. From the opening strains of "Can't You See" it's clear that the album is far more than just a continuation of their debut. Resting upon Matt Flegel's plodding bass line, Patrick Flegel's deadpan vocal delivery, and Chris Reimer on bowed guitars and cello, this moody, nocturnal ballad opens the album on a dark note – one that is quickly countered by "Heat Distraction", a jigsaw of bright guitar phrases and winding time signatures. This exact balance of delicate and dense is a pervasive thread throughout the album, reflecting the contradiction of the band's environment buried in urban sprawl framed by prairie landscape. Whether twisting through the urgent krautrock of "Locust Valley", an exercise of harmony through simplicity, or climaxing with the bittersweet melody of "Eyesore", the album somehow builds luminous contrast out of a palette of grays.In places claustrophobic, conjuring walking dreams of sexual anguish and general decay, elsewhere soaring with vintage guitar tones and vocal melodies or collapsing into swirling, mesmerizing swells, "Public Strain" cycles through insomnia, paranoia, resignation and euphoria, to capture a band with an undeniable voice coming into full awareness of their craft.

We’re shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of Women guitarist, Chris Reimer. Chris’ virtuosic playing is one of the many reasons we fell in love with this band in the first place. If you were lucky enough to ever see them play live, you know what we mean. Always calm and collected while shredding. So much fun to watch. All of that aside, ChrisÂ was an incredible friend. He was one of the warmest and funniest people we’ve been lucky to know and work with. As sad as this is, it’s hard to not smile when thinking of him. Our love and support goes out to Chris’ family and friends. So so much love for you, Chris.

Unfortunately, Women will be canceling their European tour which was planned to start later this month. Here’s the official statement from their manager, Ian Russell:

“With a heavy heart, we regret to say that the band Women is exhausted and are in need of a break from touring. They have experienced a lot of stress recently, and this culminated in a disastrous public conflict on Friday. Band members have been suffering from poor health, and are in near-exhaustion; as of today, all upcoming shows have been cancelled.

We feel that it’s necessary to emphasize that this is a very difficult time for the band, and is not a trivial decision for a group that has spent as much time touring as they have. The band is a close-knit group of friends that have known each other since elementary school, and the personal health of these individuals forces this decision.

The band would appreciate some privacy as they sort things out and recover.”

It’s definitely a bummer that the tour is off but it was, as Ian mentioned, a very tough decision to make. Right now personal health and well being is most important and everyone at Jagjaguwar is hoping that’s attainable.

Wonderful news, friends! Our Canadian brethren in Women have released another song for your aural consumption. “Narrow With The Hall” is the third track on the guy’s new record, “Public Strain,” and it’s quite possibly the best marriage of melody and chaos that you’ll hear anytime soon. Go forth and spread the MP3 HERE.

The guys are currently on tour in Europe where they stopped by the BBC studios to record a session with Mark Riley. They’ll be hitting the US with friends DD/MM/YYYY and Manchild later this month. Check out the full list of dates below: Read the rest of this entry »

That’s right, folks. When you pre-order Women’s stellar new record, “Public Strain,” you’ll get a limited edition 7″ that includes two brand new, non-album, tracks. Here’s a little more info on the songs: